“[Coaching] works and is worth the effort,” said Al Hunt, Benicia, CA. She’s good,” he said about his coach, Linda Lovejoy, http://www.the-dating-clinic.com/Linda-Lovejoy.html , a Relationship Coach.
Another of Linda’s clients simply wrote her a poem:
My Teacher
A small frame
A caring voice
A light in her eyes
A heart of gold
She is my teacher
And I was her pupil
She opened her book
The knowledge poured out
I opened my mind and took it in
Her light became my light
And then I became the teacher
I await my pupil
Shanetta Minter, Saint Petersburg, FL
Coaching still eludes defining, but clients know what they get – results. They learn to solve problems better, transition to retirement, find jobs, learn to cook, build self-esteem, parent better, and get promotions and learn life skills.
Lulwa Al Marzooki, who lives in Abu Dhabi, said she benefited from coaching in the following ways: “Since I start learning emotional intelligence with Susan Dunn, I have noticed the following positive changes: I am more patient in dealing with angry people. The ability to empathize with others helps in being able to receive love from others. I get in less fights in conversations. It is easier for me to solve problems.”
What am I doing with a client from Abu Dhabi? My practice is Internet based, and I have clients globally.
Who are the clients who come for coaching?
“Once reserved for executives facing tough decisions in elite corners of corporate American,” says Cecilia Capuzzi Simon, in an article in The Washington Post (June 2003), “coaching is trickling down to the masses.”
“Think of coaching,” Simon writes, “as having your own Dr. Phil on call – someone there not to diagnose emotional problems or feel your pain, but to tell you to buck up and help you make a plan.”
Mary Elizabeth Becker, who switched from psychotherapy, told Simon, “When I tell people I’m using a life coach, they roll their eyes and pass it off as new Age baloney. But coaching is filling a need for people like myself who are really ready to transform their lives.”
Coaching certainly makes a difference. A client wrote Kathleen Spike, MCC, ( http://www.coachingworksinc.com ), the following letter which is published on her website:
“Whew!... it's been a year! You have been a major part of it being present for me each week, "holding my intention(s)" in front of me and cheering :-) when I needed to grow and did so. Thank you for helping me reach deeper down in me to go up higher and higher. You have been most instrumental influencing me into the Very Best Year I've had income-wise. Your support and encouragement and "open books" for helping me start and grow my own coaching practice has been such a relief and incredible gift!”
Gratefully, Chip
Arthur "Chip" Phelps
President
Connected Leadership Institute
Mark Brandenburg’s (http://www.markbrandenburg.com ) client, P.J., a father and business consultant, said, “Mark helped me to finally find some balance in my life and to improve my relationships with my wife and kids.” Mark works in the business arena and also on fathering with Emotional Intelligence.
Another of his clients wrote: “Mark’s work has had a profound impact on the way we run our business.” Dr. Rebecca Hetzler, owner and CEO, MN Injury Center.
Is there a difference between a personal life coach and a business coach? Like a number of coaches, Dave Lindbeck of InStep Coaching ( http://www.instepcoaching.com ), is both.
He tells of working with a client who’d been a real estate broker and wanted to start a corporate career that would be less demanding, to keep the real estate operation on the side, to be able to spend quality time with his daughter and wife, and keep a solid personal foundation. Where would you draw the line between the two?
Results? Says David, “After several years of challenges, the client has tripled his income, maintained his real estate business, and, if you ask his wife and daughter, he’s a great husband and father.”
David says he doesn’t take credit for the success, that the client “achieved it through hard work, determination and the willingness to play a bigger game.”
How many coaches are there? 20,000 globally, says the International Coach Federation, with about 75% of them in the US. There are several coaching schools and training institutions, and some universities, including Georgetown and George Mason, offer coaching courses.
Some coaches are also teachers, offering distance learning and email courses, and many have written ebooks.
“I just wanted to say thanks for the course,” wrote Cam Howey, Supervising Metallurgist, Stelco, Canada, who took The EQ Foundation Course©.
“We’re currently in a major push to lower costs and restore profitability. Your course has been and will be a great help to me. It’s taught me new ways of thinking, exposed me to art and music I’d never have seen otherwise, and it’s reinforced what I’ve been taught by others, optimism, listening, awareness of body language and self-awareness. Re-reading the course last night reinforces my belief in the tremendous potential in all people, and our responsibility as managers to nurture and help people develop to their full potential. One of the kickers is you can’t take your staff any higher than you are.”
Colleen Sibeijn, UK, who also took the course wrote: “I did [the EQ] course last year and have become so much more in tune with my emotions and of those around me. I am more in control of them and my family and friends have noticed. …[Y]ou have inspired me to be the best person I can be."
“Got a nagging feeling that your life could be more fulfilling? Want to change direction but aren’t sure how to do it? Here’s how to jump start your new life today … Hire a coach,” says Modern Maturity magazine.
Other coaches teach by teleclass.
“I just finished taking your teleclass on How to Succeed in the Speaking Business...it was an Exhilarating Epiphany! Charged! Challenged and Changed...I will never be the same! Thanks loads!" wrote Lorraine LeMon, Motivational Speaker, to her coach, Sandra Shrift, http://www.schrift.com/index.htm , Executive Speech Coach.
There will soon be a coach for everything, an exciting possibility. Why go it alone? Here are just a few who specialize in areas that can benefit clients:
·Anne Dibala, M. D., addictionologist, TheRecoveryCoach, http://www.responsiblerecovery.com.
·Talasteena Miller, Ed. D., The Breast Cancer Coach, http://www.breastcancercoach.com.
·Nancy Fenn, TheIntrovertzCoach, http://www.theintrovertzcoach.com.
·Judi Craig, Ph.D., ( www.coachsquared.com ), Executive, Business, Sales and Career coach.
·Jim Gillespie, Ph.D., http://www.realestatesalescoach.com , Real Estate Coach
·Marshall O’Brien, http://www.byregion.net/profiles heinhousegourmet.html , Cooking Coach.
·Debra Phillips, http://www.griefrelief.com/ , Grief Coach.
·Marianne Craig, http://www.todayscoach.com/TC2-4hiv.html , HIV Coach.
·William Arruda, http://www.reachcc.com/reachdotcom.nsf/ , Personal Branding Coach.
Don’t see the niche there you’re looking for? Maybe you could be that coach. Coaches have a conglomeration of education, credentials, academic training, and actual experience surviving and thriving in fields they coach that qualify them to do what they do.
About the Author
Susan Dunn, MA, The EQ Coach, http://www.susandunn.cc. Coaching, distance learning and ebooks. I train and certify emotional intelligence coaches. Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for free ezine.